Who are we anyway?

Meet the people who helped build the Weiss Tech House

Founder

GEORGE WEISS

GEORGE WEISS

Founder

The Weiss Tech House was made possible by a gift from Penn Trustee and money manager, George Weiss. Weiss wanted to create a space that fosters the spirit of innovation and gives students the resources to develop their innovative ideas. Weiss is president of George Weiss Associates, Inc., a money management firm with offices in Hartford, Connecticut, and New York. He is best known throughout the country as the founder of the nationally recognized Say Yes to Education program that combines academic support and intervention with an offer to pay college tuition or vocational training costs for inner city students.

Faculty Director

DR. MARK YIM

DR. MARK YIM

Faculty Director

Dr. Yim is the Gabel Family Term Junior Professor and Undergraduate Curriculum Chair in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. A renowned robotics and innovation expert, Dr. Yim is popular among our students for his work developing the Rumble Pack technology in the Playstation2. Dr. Yim was Associate Faculty Director for the Weiss Tech House from 2005-2008. In 2008, he became the Faculty Director. Dr. Yim’s Website

Associate Faculty Director

DR. DAVID HSU

DR. DAVID HSU

Associate Faculty Directory

Dr. Hsu is currently an Associate Professor of Management at the Wharton School, teaching two MBA electives, Entrepreneurship and Technology Strategy. Dr. Hsu’s areas of interest are in entrepreneurial innovation and management. Within that domain, he has investigated topics such as intellectual property management, start-up innovation, technology commercialization strategy, and venture capital. In 2008, he became the Associate Faculty Director. Dr. Hsu’s Website

Director

ANNE STAMER

ANNE STAMER

Director

Ms. Stamer manages the marketing, public relations, fundraising and day-to-day activities of the Weiss Tech House and assists student volunteers in achieving the organization’s goals. Prior to joining the WTH, she was the Associate Director of the Wharton Business Plan Competition (WBPC) at the Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs.

Student Director

TANYA PAUL

TANYA PAUL

Student Director

Tanya Paul is a current senior in Wharton studying finance and statistics. She speaks 3 languages but can read 5. Her best dish is a cheese sandwich. In her free time, she enjoys reading Tech Crunch, NYT, and classic novels, doing ballet, and aerial yoga.

Student Director

NILESH KAVTHEKAR

NILESH KAVTHEKAR

Student Director

Nilesh helps support student tech entrepreneurs as Student Director at the Weiss Tech House, and is a Junior in M&T studying Computer Engineering and Management. He is also a Partner on the Dorm Room Fund, a Campus Ambassador at Sequoia Capital, and was formerly involved as a Lead Organizer of Pennvention. He cut his teeth in venture and technical roles at FundersClub and Globus Genomics, and is headed this summer to Indiegogo as a KPCB Fellow. In his free time, Nilesh enjoys butchering his favorite hip-hop lyrics, counting the days since Derrick Rose’s last injury, and reading about behavioral economics. He is a Pythonista through and through.

Student Director

JOHN WHITMAN

JOHN WHITMAN

Student Director

John is a senior and sub-matriculant master's student studying Mechanical and Systems Engineering with a minor in Engineering Entrepreneurship. In addition to his role as student director at the Weiss Tech House, he serves as the Vice President External of the Engineering Deans' Advisory Board and is a member of the Hexagon Senior Society and Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. Next year, he will be returning to Penn to finish his master's education.

Pennvention Co-Chair

BEN FEIS

BEN FEIS

Pennvention Co-Chair

Ben is a junior from the Chicago area and Co-Director of the Pennvention competition. He is studying Philosophy, Politics & Economics and Engineering Entrepreneurship. On campus he plays violin in the Penn Symphony Orchestra, serves as Vice President of the Penn Education Society, and is a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He will be interning at Goldman Sachs during the summer of 2015.

Pennvention Co-Chair

GUTHRIE GINTZLER

GUTHRIE GINTZLER

Pennvention Co-Chair

Guthrie is a student in the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology studying Mechanical Engineering and concentrating in Management at the Wharton School. As the Co-Director of Pennvention, Guthrie is passionate about stimulating innovation on campus especially as it relates to the energy industry. He spent the summer of 2014 in Beijing, China developing retrofits for coal-fired power plants to help reduce pollution.

Innovation Conference Co-Chair

KRISH RAMINENI

KRISH RAMINENI

Innovation Conference Co-Chair

Krish Ramineni is a junior at the University of Pennsylvania and the chair heading the Penn Innovation Conference for the Weiss Tech House. He’s actively involved in start-up initiatives in both enterprise and consumer software. His previous roles include product management, biz ops, and corporate development in the tech space.

Events Roadmap Co-Chair

ANNA YANG

ANNA YANG

Events Roadmap Co-Chair

Anna Yang, co-chair of Events Roadmap, is a student in the Jerome Fisher Program for Management & Technology studying computer science, marketing, and management. Her interests include entrepreneurial management, brand strategy, and software development. For her, Weiss Tech House represents an incredible way to help fellow students navigate the journey to growing their own innovative ideas. On campus, she is also on the executive boards of MUSE Marketing and Women in Computer Science at Penn.

Events Roadmap Co-Chair

GOVIND MATTAY

GOVIND MATTAY

Events Roadmap Co-Chair

Govind Mattay is a third year undergraduate studying Bioengineering. He is interested in medical device startups and plans to attend medical school. He is involved in biotech research on campus, specifically in the development of anticancer pharmaceuticals. He joined the Events Roadmap and PennVention committees his freshman year, and currently serves as the Events Roadmap co-chair.

Platform Chair

DEFU WAN

DEFU WAN

Platform Chair

Defu Wan, chair of Platform, is a senior studying Computer Science and Finance. He has a deep interest in building interesting cool applications that excite and delight others and himself. He loves the Weiss Tech House because it is a great way to meet other aspiring entrepreneurs and keep up with the startup world.

Innovation Fund Co-Chair

ALY KASSIM-LAKHA

ALY KASSIM-LAKHA

Innovation Fund Co-Chair

Aly co-chairs the Weiss Tech House Innovation Fund, and has served on the fund for past three years. He is a senior in Wharton, and is initially from Toronto, Canada (go Leafs!). Aly loves all things social #snapchat #yikyak, and is always down for coffee or ice cream. Follow Aly at @alylakha, or email him at aly.lakha@gmail.com.

Innovation Fund Co-Chair

ANUBHAV MAHESHWARI

ANUBHAV MAHESHWARI

Innovation Fund Co-Chair

Anubhav (Anu) is a senior in the Jerome Fisher Management & Technology program who loves learning about technology companies. During college he has interned at a young Philadelphia internet startup as well as evaluated and funded student founded startups as Chair of the Weiss Tech House Innovation Fund. He will be joining Morgan Stanley’s Technology Investment Banking team in New York after graduation.

Community Relations Committee Co-Chair

MICHELLE LIU

MICHELLE LIU

Community Relations Committee Co-Chair

Michelle Liu, co-chair of the Community Relations Committee, is a junior in the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology studying Computer Engineering and Management. She's also part of the M&T Student Board, and plays on the Penn Women's Ice Hockey Team. Her other interest include embedded systems, hockey, backpacking, snorkeling, eating cheese, her dog Rocky, and any kind of animal she finds cute (which is all of them).

Weiss Tech House has supported the creation of numerous successful enterprises